Caged! National Banger Awards 2021
Driver of the Year
1st: 217 Sid Madgwick
2 appearances in the National Unlimited Championship of the World, 2 time National Unlimited Champion of the World. Taking that win in the most appalling conditions a World Final has seen has cemented Sid as one of the top guys in the sport, and the voting has reflected that.
2nd: 617 Jack Overy
To many, 617 is the greatest Banger driver of all time. After an amazing season, the voting shows that he is still regarded as being at the very top of his game. Jack Overy completes a Team Black 1-2 for driver of the year.
3rd 178 Kieron Bowman
As the later voting has shown, ‘Slim’ has been regarded as one of the best drivers of the season, and fully deserves his place on the Driver of the Year podium.
Entertainer of the Year
1st: 246 Aston Burt
‘Burty Jnr’ continued where he left off at the end of 2020 with his attitude of making sure that the fans the other side of the catch fence are sent home entertained.
2nd: 178 Kieran Bowman
Another huge amount of votes for ‘Slim’ – he’s been everywhere he could and never left people wanting more.
3rd: 360 Jack Reynolds
‘Jackstar’ continues his reputation for not only being one of the best drivers on the circuit, but for going for every big moment he could,
Team of the Year
1st: The Predators
The Predators showed a lot of passion over the season, not only on their ‘home’ circuits but all over the National Banger scene.
2nd: Team Black
Not a surprise given the 1-2 in the driver of the year votes, Team Black continue to provide the best of racing and wrecking.
3rd: 3 Litre
Team 3 Litre may have less members than some other teams in the voting, but between the dedication and entertainment of Joe and Jack, the support Caged! Hall of Fame member Keefy gives to the entire sport, the team with the Reynolds family at the core have again displayed what they do best!
Most Improved
1st: 639 Tye Williams
Tye wins the award in probably the hardest category to call, as you could make a case for any of the shortlist. Had an amazing car at the Unlimited World Final, a standout performance at the King’s Lynn hosted Nutcracker and looks to shaping up for an even more impressive 2022.
2nd: 32 Callum Reed
Has gone from strength to strength over the last two season, and in the opinion of the Caged awards panel can’t be far off a major championship.
3rd: 466 Dalton Steele
Had such a great season at his home track of Warton, but also travelled as far south as Ringwood for the all-Mercades meeting along with lots of trips to King’s Lynn, mixing it amongst the top boys all season.
Newcomer of the Year
1st: 350 Ryan Yeo
A lot of work goes into these awards and the announcement show, but we all felt it was worth it when we saw the reaction of Ryan to the news he was nominated in 2 categories, let alone that he won one of them. Yogi Jnr is a driver that loves the sport and will undoubtably be a big part of it’s future.
2nd: 585 Luke Holdsworth
At the 2020 Caged! Open, in the junior ‘Teen Street’ class Luke won all 4 races including the Caged Open. It was obvious to anyone watching him then that he was destined to becoming a great driver in the National class once he hit the senior formula age, which he proved conclusively in 2021, including making his Unlimited World Championship Support debut. The only thing that wasn’t surprising was that a youngster with the Holdsworth name continued the family tradition.
3rd: 816 Jack Weeks
Jack has entertained his way through the year and has never been shy to take home a very wrecked car.
Dedicated Driver
1st: Kieran Bowman
Runner up win multiple categories, winner with the team award, but this award is purely for Slim. In many ways, the dedicated driver award is the most important, as it isn’t just awarded for attended lot of meetings – it’s awarded because the voters recognise how they have done so much to represent the sport.
2nd: 114 Liam Lake
The winner of both Car of the Year and Material Guru would always feature highly in a dedicated driver vote, but added to that taking the Autospeed Gold Roof and being a bit part of the biggest events made sure of Lakey’s 2nd in the voting.
3rd: 162 Brent Shaw
The Viking is well known as someone that brings a lot to the sport as a character and entertainer. Unfortunate to miss out on seeding to the Unlimited World in the most competitive entertainers league ever, Brent again showed amazing dedication to all parts of National Bangers.
Material Guru
1st: 114 Liam Lake
Not a huge surprise given his consistent ability to bring yet another impressive Crown to a BWS meeting, Lakey had a string of impressive cars, alongside a season where he became the Autospeed Gold-Top.
2nd: 246 Aston Burt
Not only entertaining, but usually in something special. Aston and family have shown they will put as much preparation into their car preparation as Aston will put into entertaining on track.
3rd: 476 Ross Coleman
Rosco will never be a surprise in the top 3 in this category. Once again 476 made sure that at special car events he brought something extra special.
Car of the Year
1st: 114 Liam Lake (Toyota Custom Crown Coupe – Unlimited World Final)
Lakey could have got even more votes if it wasn’t for the fact he had multiple cars in the shortlist, but in his ‘All Crown’ BWS season he saved the very best for last.
2nd: 622: Garry Webb (Cadillac Series 62 Coupe – Skegness Pre 90 Teams)
Such an amazing looking car, with the front chrome to match, Garry went out to the Skeggy teams meeting representing the TWT in complete style. He also left it in the style expected, as the backend was pushed right up and the passenger side roof had a few uncomfortable looking angles.
3rd: 639 Tye Williams (Mk9 Jaguar – Unlimited World Final)
The beautifully prepared, painted and signwritten car from ‘Tyepirate’ was one of the talking points in the pits at Ipswich for the Unlimited World, and deservedly so!
Meeting of the Year
1st: Yarmouth BWS (Spedeworth Motorsports)
The BWS has been invigorated by the changes made by Spedeworth, such as concentrating qualifying to the BWS rounds and the introduction of the entertainers league. The Yarmouth BWS round was the pick of the bunch.
2nd: Aldershot 3 Litre Tongham Classic (Spedeworth Motorsports)
Something a bit different to the usual National Banger rulebook, the 3 Litre Tongham classic produced one of the classic Banger finals of all time, with two parallel jacking trains forming with every driver on that corner putting in a square, respectful and massively spectacular shot. Nearly 70 cars started, 1 finished.
3rd: King’s Lynn World of Shale (Trackstar Racing)
Trackstar had a season where they showed yet again how they know how to put on a meeting, and the World of Shale was the pick of the bunch.
Promotion of the Year
1st: Trackstar Racing
Trackstar received more votes than the rest of the promotions put together, again showing how highly regarded they are for the meetings put on at the excellent Adrian Flux Arena. Comments along with the votes from drivers and spectators expressed how well looked after they feel. We are also delighted with the response from Trackstar on the news they won!
2nd: Spedeworth Motorsports
The promotion that has the most tracks of them all really did make the best of the awful situation that the calendar threw up with lockdowns. The BWS went from strength to strength, special meetings such as the 3 Litre Tongham Classic and the Arlington Gala night were universally well received, and away from Bangers they were also the winners of the Motorsport News Organiser of the year across all UK Racing.
3rd: Comines Auto Motor Speedway Organisation
The European mainland section of the Caged! nation again came out in force for the Warneton track, widely recognised for it’s hard hitting action and excellent officiating.